The Vice Ministry of Culture of the Principality of Asturias has prepared a inventory of the situation of industrial heritage, extending it up to more than 1.700 registered elements or sets (of which a thousand have protection), to improve the conservation of "fundamental assets" in the history of Asturias.
By municipalities, Mieres has the largest number of inventoried items, with 271, of which only 96 are protected. Langreo, for his part, has 197 inventoried and 131 protected; San Martín del Rey Aurelio has 132 inventories and 13 protected; Gijón has 120 inventoried and 82 protected, and Oviedo has 113 inventoried and 59 protected. From the study carried out, it can be deduced that almost a quarter of the protected elements are equipment and homes, and the sectors with the largest number of protected properties are mining operations, railway system buildings and port systems.
Here we give you some equipment clues that can be visited and that offer a 100% genuine vision of worlds that are very unknown to the common people.
Museums Asturias
Asturias has three important museums linked to the world of mining and iron and steel, key industries in the development of industrial life in mining areas. They are essential visits if you like to learn from the past.
Museum of Mining and Industry - MUMI
The wealth of the Asturian subsoil has determined development, social conflicts, the economy and…
Samuño Valley Ecomuseum
Be a miner for a while, put yourself in their shoes (saving distances), discover the smell of a real mine, its…
Iron and Steel Museum - MUSI
The Iron and Steel Museum aims to unite culture, industry, leisure and history, like a new model of…
Industrial towns Asturias
In the city of Gijon There is a little-known venue, even for Asturians, which is a discovery, not only because of its location inside a block patio but also because of its recent refurbishment and enhancement to preserve the essence of its past. Is about Celestino Solar Citadel, an industrial town that grew due to the massive transfer of peasant workers in search of work to the city. We can immerse ourselves in their daily life by visiting their humble houses and their surroundings in the common areas within the closed perimeter, away from the eyes of the rest of the city.
The Citadel of Gijon
Quite a history lesson, a visit that should be obligatory since there are very few examples left in Spain...
Mieres He lived on agriculture and livestock, with a practically subsistence economy, until the discovery of coal took place in the last third of the XNUMXth century. In the middle of the XNUMXth century we can talk about the process of industrialization of the region. Industry and mining acquired a great boom, with English, French and Belgian companies settling there. All of this has left behind a rich and abundant industrial heritage: mining equipment, facilities, headframes, old workshops... highlighting the Barredo Shaft, the Figaredo Shaft, the Fortuna Shaft, the San Nicolás Shaft, the Espinos Shaft, the Santa Bárbara Shaft (first shaft declared a Site of Cultural Interest) and many others. worth noting the mining town of Bustiello, a lesson in cultural anthropology that is an unavoidable visit when someone approaches the council of Mieres.
Bustiello mining town
It is populated, which in the past wanted to be an arcade for the worker, is a fertile land for the…
The experience of going down a mine in Asturias
Arnao, very close to Avilés, is a town that has the first coal deposit documented in Spain. It is fascinating for its genuine presence and the clear image it conveys of the past. It is also the first underwater mine from Europe and hethe first person who used the railway in our country (1836). A guided tour allows us to access the interior of the mine.
Arnao Mine
Arnao, a town 7 kilometers from the city of Avilés, has an unusual mine entrance that is cut into…
Everything in the municipality of San Martín del Rey Aurelio is linked to mining and the industry derived from it. The main towns, L'Entregu/El Entrego, Sotrondio and Blimea were large mining centers. The massive arrival of labor led to the creation of mining towns. We can visit those preserved today, such as those of El Serrallo (Sotrondio), El Coto, La Vega, El Japón and San Vicente, in L'Entregu/El Entrego.
The bridges over the Nalón River are, together with the mine entrances, wells and headframes, the most interesting structures of the industrial heritage of San Martín del Rey Aurelio. We can visit the La Oscura Bridge, the Carrocera Bridge, the Miramar Bridge, the Los Gallegos Bridge and the La Maquinilla Bridge.
If we visit this municipality we have to go to the Soton Well. It is the second of the mining shafts built by the Duro Felguera Metallurgical Society and one of its peculiarities is that it has two independent vertical shafts, each with extraction machines. It was closed in December 2014 and now we can make a very interesting tourist visit and thus delve into the mining world.
The Well Soton
You have to live it. Going down into the Sotón Well is an experience that far surpasses any type of…
Text: © Ramón Molleda for asturias.com
